Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

What would life be like if the only emotion we were capable of feeling was fear? In Forbidden, authors Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee describe a future society that believes it has evolved from the chaos of experiencing multiple emotions. As the story unfolds, we learn, with the book’s hero, that the reality is much darker: a previous world ruler used a virus to change the citizens’ DNA in order to give him more control by allowing only fear to be experienced. Fortunately, a group of people has been tasked these 480 years with protecting the truth in preparation for the realization of a prophecy.

I loved this book. It caught my attention within the first couple of pages and didn’t let go until the end (actually, it still hasn’t – I can’t wait until the next book in the series, Mortal, due out in 2012, is released). Prepare to be riveted. The fast-paced story includes a number of twists and turns that leave the reader wondering what surprise is coming up next. The characters are well-developed and the rich history behind the story is delivered in such a way that the reader isn’t bored by the experience. It was interesting to see the authors’ idea of how one might react to feeling emotion for the first time.  The only thing that I didn’t like about the story is how graphic some of the descriptions are. The “extremeness” of some of the violence left me wishing I had seen it coming and skipped over the description. Still, many readers will probably love that about the book – it’s a matter of taste.

The book certainly has spiritual application. Many times I found myself drawing parallels between scripture and the story. I wouldn’t call it an allegory, but I think that there are many morals to be drawn from the story and some aspects might be allegorical.

If you like mystery, suspense, and science fiction and don’t mind a bit of gore, I urge you to read this book. When you do, let me know your thoughts by commenting below.